My never ever sick -silkie hen is suddenly SICK 🤢 PLEASE HELP!!! PLEASE

[Tuxedoquailowner]

PLEASE HELP!!! I have a 2 1/2 yr old silkie whose currently 3 1/2 pound whose never ever been sick since i got her until this Wednesday and it hit quick!!!! Shes the only animal I have.. we do have random dogs/cats that tresspass in our yard but i move her hardware cloth run every morning when i let her outside for supervised outdoor play..but never when random animals cone up.i also do not keep her food or water outside so no animals can drink out of it,but the cats do try to walk on her run when shes not in it. And dogs always sniff around it and drag up bones.. that's why i also move my precious silkies'outdoor run around the yard so shes away from where the animals come up because apparently none of the neighbors know how to provide for their animals and they like to roam.. .my Ellie has become a member of the family.. loves watching TV, goes to town with us for grocery pickups in her own seatbelt (like what dogs use in cars),shes gently brushed daily with her cute 80's hairdo, and has supervised visits outside early in the mornings and late afternoons.. she is the only bird/pet we have at the moment and shes 2 1/2 yrs old and weights 3 1/2 lb.. shes never ever been sick,ever, but Wednesday (todays the 22 of june 2024), and she had a rattle when i picked her up to give her a daily once over..no other symptoms ,shes been happy as can be ,eating normally,just as active as ever but thursday she quit eating,seemed very thirsty,and mainly sat around like a loaf of bread and tail down.. not usual for my precious ellie.. so i have been researching nonstop after i noticed her breathing with her mouth open and came across the gapeworm thread.. so i immediately got her vetrx,garlic cloves,applecider vinegar,and gave her 4 small drops with a eye dropper of cattle pour on ivermectin on her neck and have monitored her closely.. i also gave her yogurt and raw honey mixed together 2x daily but no food intake but drinking water so far with a whole clove of garlic in the water plus some apple cider vinegar and honey mixed in it on top of vetrx in her nise as well her eating some of the vetrx liquid 2x daily plus a small amount of garlic water straight from the jar in her nose and mouth 2x daily.. no worms ever with this bird either..she is kept in a super clean environment with supervised play outside.. no frothy poops ever or bloody, no sickness ever..i watch her like a hawk.. but then I fed her some super steamed broccoli florets and she tore them up but then the runny watery poops started but some were a dark green..no coughing though on wed or thursday or fri.but she doesnt want to come out of her house to play.still no frothy eyes as of Friday ,so far no puffy eyes,no runny nose either(as of friday june 21,2024)..so i kept her bedding scooped out which ive used wood shavings the last 6 months..she doesnt have any signs of mites or swollen legs or protruding crop either.. so today,saturday june 22,2024, she shakes her head occasionally but eats the vetrx and garlic water mixture when im trying to get it in her nose, so dar shes drinking her fresh water with honey, garlic clove,a couple small drops of. Vetrx thats been slightly warmed mixed thoroughly plus the apple cider vinegar in it .still no food intake other than a 1/4. Tsp of honey&yogurt mix but she keeps her mouth closed unless i pick her up..then she rattles that you can hear and hold her moth open a bit..do you have any idea of what i need to give her ..shes never ever been sick and i cant part with my good girl..shes been taking her mixtures i mentioned like a champ and loves to sit on my lap and cuddle..i just cant lose my ellie..ive tried several vets in my state & they all simple refuse to work on her and tell me to "cull her and get a new one "or they dont know anything "other than how to feed and water them" so local vets are out of the question...any advice or tips with help..she also stopped laying eggs last Oct after i switched from purina to dumour feed.. thank you

 

[Debbie292d]

Sorry to hear Ellie isn't well.

You're trying a lot of holistic things that may or may not work, but a rattling chest sounds like she's got a cold or respiratory infection possibly. If you're against getting her an antibiotic, oregano is a natural, low level, antibiotic, but you have to be careful with the essential oils kind as that's like 1 drop per gallon of water. More than that can harm them.

I'd also give her Poultry Cell in her water every other day as that'll give her a boost to help her fight this if it's what I think it may be.

Most of the time they get over these by themselves in a few days. Just keep her warm, plenty of fluids, and I'd treat her to some warm scrambled eggs.

By the way, I raise silkies and they were on Dumor for about four years. They get Kalmbach's now which didn't change anything. I just got tired of TSC being out of the crumbles so I switched to having Chewy ship Kalmbach's to me.

I hope Ellie improves soon!

 

[Tuxedoquailowner]

Sorry to hear Ellie isn't well.

You're trying a lot of holistic things that may or may not work, but a rattling chest sounds like she's got a cold or respiratory infection possibly. If you're against getting her an antibiotic, oregano is a natural, low level, antibiotic, but you have to be careful with the essential oils kind as that's like 1 drop per gallon of water. More than that can harm them.

I'd also give her Poultry Cell in her water every other day as that'll give her a boost to help her fight this if it's what I think it may be.

Most of the time they get over these by themselves in a few days. Just keep her warm, plenty of fluids, and I'd treat her to some warm scrambled eggs.

By the way, I raise silkies and they were on Dumor for about four years. They get Kalmbach's now which didn't change anything. I just got tired of TSC being out of the crumbles so I switched to having Chewy ship Kalmbach's to me.

I hope Ellie improves soon!

Hey thanks for reaching out..I've tried local vets to try to get a diagnosis or some antibiotics but they won't see her and just recommended culling right off the bat.. would you happen to know the dosages for any "fish" broad spectrum antibiotic and dosages for a silkie?? Or anything that I can get antibiotic wise that covers both fungal and bacterial so try to cover anything it could be?? Thanks..

 

[Debbie292d]

I can't believe anyone would tell you to cull your chicken, pet or no pet. I wouldn't even bring my dogs and cats to a vet like that.

Fishmox is Amoxicillin. Dosage for amoxicillin is 57 mg per pound of weight, every 12 hours for 5-7 days. Minimally is 5 days, and if improved you can quit...if still has symptoms, go another two days.

I've only used it once a couple of years ago when one of my silkie hens got that rattling chest. She was fine in about 3 days, but I gave it to her for another two days.

 

[Tuxedoquailowner]

I can't believe anyone would tell you to cull your chicken, pet or no pet. I wouldn't even bring my dogs and cats to a vet like that.

Fishmox is Amoxicillin. Dosage for amoxicillin is 57 mg per pound of weight, every 12 hours for 5-7 days. Minimally is 5 days, and if improved you can quit...if still has symptoms, go another two days.

I've only used it once a couple of years ago when one of my silkie hens got that rattling chest. She was fine in about 3 days, but I gave it to her for another two days.

Thank you so much for the dosage recommendations.. she is absolutely the sweetest hen..she's never tried to bite or peck, ,even since shes sick..she's def not a pet but a true family member.. I'll see if I can run across any fish mox..

I've also attached 4 other pictures to see if anyone has had any luck with these.**Just in case i cant get ahold of any fish mox)**.(3) are for fish and (1) is for birds.. is there a specific brand of fish amoxicillin or specific strength for amoxicillin ?? Thank you..

i apologize for all the questions,it's just heartbreaking when your silkie suddenly gets sick..

we have our yard professionally mowed so the lawn is well kept,but I've noticed quite a few more snails in the yard and a crazy amount of grasshoppers.. we do not allow chemicals and sprays on this property..

And again thank you for the dosage suggestion..

 

[nuthatched]

Can you post the cliff notes version of your problem, please. I'm having a hard time discern the actual information needed, such as:
Age
Diet, including treats.
Symptoms and when they started.
Poop appearance.
Crop feel.
Have you ever wormed her?
Any mucus, wheezing, bubbles?
If laying, when she last laid.
Stop the vet rx, the acv, garlic and yogurt. Vet rx is just vicks for chickens, acv won't help much of anything, garlic is toxic to animals in high/continuous amounts and won't help much and chickens don't process dairy well.
And none of those will do a blessed thing for worms.
Do not give any antibiotics unless you can confirm an infection.
Mammals aren't going to be spreading much to her so you can calm down about that.
Her being the only chicken, mostly indoors under sterile conditions isn't good for her mental or physical health, chickens are flock animal, they desperately need other chickens and to 'chicken'. And no, her human friends aren't good substitutes.
It soybd like a possibly reproductive issues, which can affect the whole system.